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Telly Text #16: Crazy About One Direction + Orange Is The New Black

'Crazy About One Direction'

One Direction are probably the biggest UK boyband at the moment, these five lads have come along way from the 'X-Factor' and are now Simon Cowell’s favourite toys. Harry, Liam, Louis, Niall and Zayn have all darted to stardom and have gained an army of loyal supporters. Whether or not you love or hate these boys, you cannot deny they have done well for themselves - partly thanks to their “Directioners”. Channel 4 allows us to see some of the most extreme Directioners and they clearly didn't have to look far to find the disturbing behaviour of these girls.

These girls with posters full of the boys all over their walls tell us about the one or two times they may have bumped into the lads and had photos or autographs and how it changed their lives. Some even track down their favourite 1D member to follow and stalk from hotel to hotel.

These Directioners throughout this whole documentary had a lot of passion and seem ready to take on anyone that is against One Direction, including Taylor Swift fans. Many of these girls talk about their disapproval of Taylor Swift and even call her fans crazy - a bit of a pot calling the kettle black moment. Honestly, whoever these boys date, their unhinged fans will be jealous and will probably try to assassinate the competition.

The creepiest part of this documentary is when these fans start talking about the relationship between Harry and Louis. The sexual way these girls were talking about Harry and Louis’ bromance seems particularly inappropriate. One minute they were hoping for the boys to marry them and then the next they want Harry and Louis to start dating. Some of the graphic drawings they were showing you would not believe they came from teenage girls.

Now I have to remember that some of these “Directioners” are teenage girls under sixteen and clearly know no better but where were their parents at the time this was being filmed. The likes of 5IVE, Boyzone, Take That and Westlife all had screaming fans chasing them all about the place but these Directioners have taken being fans to another level.

'Crazy About One Direction' was like watching '28 Days Later' and watching as each of these girls is being bitten by the One Direction virus turning them into brain dead zombies and then infecting their friends. I truly hope these girls find the help they need, as when One Direction finish and trust me they will split apart at some point, all these boybands do, these girls might actually need months of therapy.

'Orange Is The New Black'

A few weeks ago when I was reviewing 'Arrested Development', I discussed how Netflix is reviving cancelled shows. However, I failed to also mention how Netflix are creating their own original series. They have a few floating about their website but the one that has caught my eye is 'Orange Is The New Black'. Starring Taylor Schiling as Piper Chapman, a woman sentenced to fifteen months in prison after a decade worth of transporting money for her drug dealing on-off partner Alex Vause (Laura Prepon).

Now when this show was first recommended to me by a friend, I thought it was the American version of 'Bad Girls' which in a way it can be seen like that but the writing is on more of an advanced level. As each episode goes on we get to see an insight into the history of Chapman and her fellow prison buddies. In the beginning, Piper comes off as the conservative woman that might have been experimenting with Alex but now regrets it. However as the series goes on, Piper starts to show her true colours and trust me, they are not pretty.

In the prison system it is know that there is a hierarchy and this show is no different with the Queen Bee being Galina ‘Red’ Reznikov (Kate Mulgrew), the Head Chef of the prison and the lady you do not want to mess with. Red is a tough cookie and even when trouble brews with one of the prison guards, George Mendez (Pablo Schreiber), she knows how to deal with his perverted and dodgy ways.

Another character that has had me gripped is John Bennett (Matt McGorry), a young prison guard who starts a romance with prisoner Dayanara Diaz (Dascha Polanco). As he continues with this prison romance each day becomes more and more dangerous for him. The potential of losing his job and being thrown into prison is a threat he is willing to take but as the series goes on situations happen that make Bennett seriously think about this relationship with Diaz.

'Orange Is The New Black' has some clever writing, which sets it apart to quite a lot of shows out right now. Furthermore until actually looking into this show I did not know that this was based on a true story. Which is a big plus for me as I love TV shows that are based on exciting true stories. The fact that series two is in the pipeline clearly shows the confidence Netflix has in the show.

My one big regret with 'Orange Is The New Black' is that I wish I did not binge watch it, as I got highly addicted to this show and with only thirteen episodes I think I will be needing my fix soon. I hope in the long run Netflix continues to create their own shows that could rival current television shows at the moment.